With Muskegon Bike Time over and new farmers market under construction, potential 2014 conflicts need to be solved

MUSKEGON, MI – Anyone observing the corner of West Western Avenue and Terrace Street – home to the new Muskegon Farmers Market – this past Muskegon Bike Time Saturday morning must have wondered what all the fuss is about.

Farmers market proponents and Bike Time organizers appear to be at loggerheads over use of the new market and surrounding areas next July when the market will be downtown the Saturday morning of Bike Time.

The issue seems to have become so divisive that the Holiday Inn Muskegon Harbor staff in the heart of Bike Time activities wore Love Muskegon T-shirts instead of those from the bike festival. Staff did not want to be seen “taking sides” between Bike Time and the Farmers Market.

But anyone at the construction site Saturday morning of the new market on Terrace Avenue -- which becomes Steel Horse Alley during the motorcycle festival -- saw a completely vacant street and plenty of parking across the street in the Baker College parking lot. Bike Time does not get going until the early afternoon, well after the peak crowds have come to the market.

It was pretty obvious that Bike Time would not have stopped a normal Muskegon Farmers Market if the new downtown facility would have been in operation this year.

When Bike Time brought up the potential conflict for next year back in May, the Muskegon City Commission directed staff to come up with a compromise solution. Staff recommended that Terrace Street remain closed the entire weekend and season-long market vendors keep their place in the market. Bike Time would be able to have other market vending slots that were available week-to-week.

“We will take the concerns and input that we receive under advisement and move forward to a recommendation for 2014,” Muskegon Mayor Steve Gawron said of the issue returning to the city commission. “Hopefully, it will be amenable to all parties.”

Bike Time promoters and market vendors and customers this past weekend expressed confidence that any conflicts for 2014 will be able to be solved.

“We are trying to come to a solution for the market and Bike Time to work together,” said Bike Time Chairman Clyde Whitehouse, co-owner and general manager for Hot Rod Harley Davidson – the motorcycle destination across from the new market that was a leading force in creating Bike Time.

“The two can co-exist,” Whitehouse said, adding Bike Time was a huge success this year and the local festival board looks forward to growing the event in 2014. “We can figure it out. The new market inevitably will be better for everyone.”

Take time to talk to the vendors and the customers at the current Farmers Market on Yuba Street less than a mile from the new site, and you’ll find that most have yet to buy into the change. The city’s market is moving downtown to create a new facility that is designed to boost downtown redevelopment, being supported by private contributions.

“I’m really concerned with the move,” said Joel Miedema, of JW Greenhouses of Holland and Allendale. “I think if it’s not broken don’t fix it. This is a really good market … an anchor market for my business. And we have plenty of room to grow here.”

JW Greenhouses sells annual flowers from May through July and is back with fall flowers in September, selling in Muskegon for nearly 20 years. There were 320 customer vehicles at the farmers market at 10 a.m. Saturday July 20.

When it comes to the move and a potential conflict with Bike Time, Miedema said there are no real issues.

“I just don’t want to be moved out for the Bike Time Saturday,” Miedema said. “But I think they can figure that out.”

Customers like Stacey Gomez of Norton Shores seem to be willing to attend the market on next year’s Bike Time Saturday. A weekly market customer, Gomez was shopping Saturday with her two children.

“I prefer the market stays where it is at,” Gomez said after buying two pints of fresh blueberries from J & D Farms of West Olive. “But I’d shop the market next year (at Bike Time) as long as there is enough room for both.”

Down West Western Avenue at Third Street, the staff at the Holiday Inn Muskegon Harbor had a huge weekend and was busy throughout taking care of Bike Time guests. In past years, the staff wore Bike Time T-shirts during the weekend to support the festival.

That was not the case this year with the apparent Bike Time vs. Farmers Market controversy, said new General Manager Doug Pollock. In June, Parkland Development’s Jon Rooks – owner of the nearby Shoreline Inn and Conference Center – purchased the 201-room Holiday Inn.

“Without appearing to take sides in any ‘political’ issue, at a team meeting of select associates we decided to purchase Love Muskegon shirts for the entire staff,” said Pollock, who had been the manager at the Shoreline Inn. “This was fun for our team members and guests and instead of ‘picking sides’ we promoted Muskegon as a whole.”